Can you believe Metal Slinger by Rachel Schneider, the romantasy sensation that DESTROYED Booktok and Bookstagram with its absolutely diabolical ending after we watch Jovie and Acker cross an ocean and survive hell came out over a year ago? Well, look no further because Metal Slinger Book 2, Light Wielder is coming out next week.
We don’t know much about Book 2, but we know that our FMC Brynn and MMC Acker are separated and 4 years has passed. But despite knowing very little about what will happen in Book 2, knowing Rachel Schneider (I mean, collecting one’s jaws off the floor after that epilogue is basically a rite of passage), it’ll be full of twists and there won’t be a single dull moment.
However, just as we said, the first book of the Fire and Metal duology did come out a year ago. And I’m sure, although you’re dying to jump into Light Wielder when it comes out on Tuesday, June 9th, 2026, you probably need a refresher.
This post is going to contain everything you need to know before diving into the second book of Metal Slinger. We hope you enjoy it. We’re going to eat up Light Wielder as SOON as it comes out, but if you want to be the first to know when we finish reviewing it, sign up to our newsletter and follow us on the social media of your choosing!
This post contains ALL the spoilers.
Tropes
- Fated mates
- Enemies to lovers
- Forced proximity
- Slow burn
- Court intrigue
- Betrayal
Metal Slinger World Building
The Five Kingdoms
Alaha
An ocean territory exiled to live on the sea. Its residents aren’t allowed to touch land, to keep their magic from awakening. Brynn/Jovie, Kai, and Messer live in Alaha at the start.
- Led by Captain Wren, married to Faline, and Kai’s father. Although he looks younger, he’s over 300 years old. Wren has the magic of influence. He brought a dash of soil with him when he was exiled so Kai can awaken when he’s old enough.
- Alahans are exiled. The “known reason” is that the mainlanders refused to share resources, but the real reason is to keep their magic from awakening, because it’s assumed they all carry the magic of influence.
Kenta
The central kingdom, and where Acker is from.
- They were thought to have fire magic, but they actually have the power of influence. King Edmond, the current ruler, was married to Cadence, Acker’s mother, who is Jovie’s neighbor in Alaha. She is presumed dead. Jovie knows her as Grenadine.
- Prince Acker is heir to the throne and is engaged to Strou’s crown princess, Irina. He used to be betrothed to Jovie, but after she disappeared the betrothal was broken and the alliance between Maile and Kenta collapsed.
- Beau is Acker’s half-sister and the daughter of Greta, Kenta’s librarian.
Roison
A kingdom known for its hostility and black sand beaches. They’ve been at war with Kenta for decades.
- Chryse rules Roison. His brother Osiris admitted to kidnapping Jovie, and Evelynn killed Osiris.
- Roison is cursed. Jovie, as a light wielder, is the first person to break the curse on the Dark Forest.
Maile
The kingdom of many mountains. Jovie is the lost princess of Maile.
- Maile has the largest army in the world. Queen Evelynn rules, and she’s the mother of Jovie, whose true name is Princess Jovinnia. Evelynn believes Jovie was kidnapped by Kenta.
Strou
A kingdom with a strong military, currently allied with Kenta after betrothing their princess to Prince Acker. Second-largest army.
Magic System
Mother Nature gifted humans the power of magic, and each nation has an heir to help maintain balance. Every heir has one special gift, strongest on land when they’re connected to Mother Nature. Heirs go through a process called the Awakening so their powers mature, and a heir’s gift stays unknown until the Awakening is complete.
Known magical powers:
- Powers of influence (Wren, King Edmund)
- Elemental magic (fire, earth, water, air)
- Metal wielding (Acker)
- Shapeshifters (Messer, Swen)
- Oracles
- Illusionists
- Light wielders (Jovie, Uma)
Mother Nature and mates: Mother Nature sometimes gives fated mates. Matches can share dreams, and Mother Nature may draw them together.
Metal Slinger Summary
The Alaha and the Annual Market
Jovie, first known as Brynn, grows up among the Alaha, a people banished to live at sea forever after losing a war to the Kenta. She’s secretly Princess Jovinnia of Maile, kidnapped as a child by the Alaha leader, Wren, who claims he rescued her as an orphan.
Jovie and her friends Kai and Messer attend the Kenta’s annual Market, likely their one chance to ever stand on land. A Kenta soldier, later revealed as Acker, son of King Edmond, grabs Jovie and forces her hand against a wall, triggering painful magic, since touching land makes her dormant power flare. She fights him off with his own knife and escapes with it, while Aurora, a fellow guard trainee, sets off an explosion to cover the getaway.
Acker’s Capture and the Blood Oath
In retaliation, Kenta cuts Alaha’s Market access and threatens their food supply. Kai, the leader’s son, defends Jovie so she avoids harsh punishment, then announces he’ll marry her without asking her first.
Acker sails to Alaha and ends up in the brig, refusing to speak to anyone but Jovie. A blood oath from Wren keeps him from telling her what he knows about her past.
Acker claims Kai has been using persuasion magic to make Jovie love him. It’s really a ruse: Jovie and Kai are secretly working together to trick Acker into taking her to Kenta and King Edmond.
Escape Across the Violent High Seas
A storm floods the brig. Jovie frees Acker and the two escape Alaha on a small fishing boat. He’s stabbed during the escape, but Jovie stops him from killing Kai.
They sail for weeks through starvation and storms, helped by a mythical bird that turns out to be Messer, a shapeshifter. They land in Roison. Acker needs to touch land to heal, and Jovie’s magic floods in all at once, knocking her out for days. Kenta deserters attack, and she’s shot in the chest with an arrow before a healer saves her.
The Dark Forest and Crossing into Kenta
A panther attacks, revealed as Sven, the healer’s shapeshifter son. Messer turns into a leopard to defend her, and the fight drives them into the Dark Forest, a place no one escapes. Jovie burns the entire forest down with a burst of magic.
Acker gets her across the Kenta border, where soldiers greet him as their prince. She meets Beau, his sister, and Hallis, his closest friend, and Acker frees Messer but brands him with a mark that binds him to Kenta.
Inside Kenta and the Slow Burn Romance
On the way to the palace, Jovie can jump into Acker’s mind while she sleeps and learns he’s engaged to Irina, Princess of Strou. Their attraction keeps growing, and the connection is later revealed to be a mating bond.
Maile soldiers try to take Jovie home. Acker swears a blood oath that he and Jovie are matched, that he won’t harm her, and that he loves her.
At the palace, Jovie clashes with King Edmond and dislikes how easily Acker wields power over others. The court treats her as a threat tied to Maile and to her light magic, once used by an evil queen.
Jovie researches matched bonds in Greta’s secret library and hears more from bonded couple Wells and Olivia. She and Acker grow close, sleep together, confess their love, and Acker publicly chooses her over Irina at a court dinner.
Metal Slinger Ending Explained
A flashback confirms Jovie and Kai planned this from the start: get Acker to trust her so he’d bring her to Kenta, then overthrow both the tyrant Edmond and the self-serving Wren. Acker proposes. Then Kenta nobles start collapsing from poison, Jovie puts a magic-suppressing collar on Acker, and Beau reveals she’s part of the rebellion too.
The rebels offer Acker the throne only if he keeps peace with Alaha, Maile, and Roison. He refuses. Jovie severs Edmond’s magic but spares him at Acker’s request, then flees, knowing it will ruin her relationship with Acker even though she loves him.
Where Is Everyone at the End of Metal Slinger
Remember, four years will have passed.
- Jovie: Fled Kenta after leading the rebellion. She severed King Edmond’s magic and collared Acker. Her relationship with Acker is in ruins, though she still loves him.
- Acker: In Kenta, his magic suppressed by the collar. He refused the rebels’ offer of the throne. Alive.
- King Edmond: Alive but stripped of his magic, spared at Acker’s request.
- Beau: Sided with the rebellion.
- Kai: Leading the rebellion.
- Messer: Most likely with Jovie and Kai.
- Wren: Fate unclear.
Are you excited about Light Wielder? Were you as annoyed as we were when everyone kept saying “Omg it’s the biggest plot twist ending” and you kept looking for it all book? We’re jumping in IMMEDIATELY, because we don’t it spoiled.
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Can’t wait for Tuesday!
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